Holiday Planning: A Festive Fortress

A house is more than a home. It is a fortress, the place where we snuggle in with our loved ones and feel safe and secure. During the holidays, our tiny kingdom takes on an almost magical quality. The sights are a little brighter, smells are a little sweeter, and the sounds are of laughter and carols.

The fortress is quite typically the backdrop of a majority of our holiday memories. Preparation is key to maximizing the warmth and beauty of the holiday season. Here are some areas to consider prior to December.

Cleaning

Charity organizations such as Goodwill and Salvation Army are in need of your donations to stock their shelves, so go from room to room looking for items that are no longer used or loved. Children should take the time to go through their things and pass on the things that are broken or no longer enjoyed.

Vowing not to put anything out until it has a dust-free surface to rest on is a good motivation for thoroughly cleaning your house in time for the holidays.

Decorations

You don’t have to break the bank in order to fortify your holiday home. There are plenty of ways to add Christmas cheer that don’t even include Target. Ask your parents if there are any Christmas decorations that they might be willing to pass on. A visit to your local craft store will produce plenty of wonderful ideas for holiday crafts and decorations. My children and I make a Christmas chain out of green and red construction paper. It is simple, but it is tradition and means something to us.

The Tree

What living room is not enhanced with a piece of nature as its focal point, even if it happens to be artificial nature. Growing up, my family would pile into the front seat of my Dad’s pickup (pre-seat belts), and we would drive to the next town’s grocery store to rummage amongst their shipment of pine trees to look for “the one”.

No matter the kind of tree (real or artificial), no matter if you dig your tree out of the basement or use a saw to cut it down yourself, no matter if the bulbs are glass or ceramic, a Christmas tree truly symbolizes a traditional holiday home. Reserve a date on your calendar now for purchasing/ assembling and adorning your tree.

There are more ways to prepare for the holidays ahead of time. Take the steps necessary to consider what currently can be done so that you can enjoy the holiday season to the fullest extent. Join us as we talk about how to plan ahead for your holiday food and holiday festivities in the next 2 weeks.

Jennifer Tankersley is the creator of ListPlanIt.com which has hundreds of printable lists, checklists, and planning pages to put your world-and your holidays-in order.

She also writes 100DaystoChristmas.com, which gives a daily dose of inspiration and motivation to get you through the busy holiday season.